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The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has called on shareholders to vote against the election of James Murdoch as a non-executive director of satellite broadcaster BSkyB. The TUC says that James Murdoch cannot be seen to be a sufficiently independent director of a company of which his father, Rupert Murdoch, is chairman. The move is the… Continue reading Murdoch Faces Pressure From TUC Over Son’s Appointment

Conditions in the US advertising markets are starting to look ‘a little brighter’, according to Initiative Media’s CEO, Alec Gerster. In a conference call with Merrill Lynch analysts, Gerster said that although the ‘tone’ of the ad market is improving, it remains uneven and there does not appear to be a swell in demand prior… Continue reading US Ad Market Looks A Little Brighter, Says Initiative Chief

Contrary to received wisdom, advertising revenues are becoming a less significant factor in the financial performance of global advertising and media agencies, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley. In an industry overview report, the broker advises investors that agencies have become decoupled from the advertising revenue cycle. This is a result of changes in the… Continue reading Agencies Decoupled From Ad Revenue Cycle, Says Morgan Stanley

Future Network, the international magazine group, has acquired the US’ second best-selling guitar magazine, Guitar One, from Cherry Lane Magazines for £1.5 million in cash. This is Future’s second acquisition of a US guitar magazine business this year; in September the company bought Guitar World and related titles for £10 million (see Future Network Profits… Continue reading Future Buys Second US Guitar Magazine Group

Worldwide revenues from on-premise web conferencing are set to rise from $361 million in 2003 to $1.5 billion by 2007, according to a new report from the Radicati Group. As the technology improves, increasingly executives are turning to video conferencing via the web in order to save on corporate travel expenses. Anxiety over air travel… Continue reading Web Conferencing Revenues To Rise Fourfold By 2007

Revenues at outdoor advertising group JCDecaux fell by 2.7% in the third quarter, as conditions in Europe remained weak. However, the company is seeing some signs of an advertising recovery in the US. This is in line with first half comments made in September (see Weak Europe Mutes JCDecaux’s First Half). Revenues from billboard advertising… Continue reading JCDecaux Revenues Dip In Q3 As Europe Remains Tough

The Office of Fair Trading has allowed advertisers to join its negotiations with Carlton and Granada over the conditions that will prevent the merged ITV from monopolising the market for airtime sales. The OFT had originally planned to confine negotiations over the suggested behavioural remedies to the merging parties and the advertising industry’s representative bodies.… Continue reading Advertising Industry Consulted On ITV Merger Remedy

Profits at Richard Desmond’s media group, which publishes the the Daily Express and Daily Star, fell by more than 50% last year, according to accounts filed at Companies House. It is reported that pre-tax profits at Desmond’s holding company, RCD1 slumped to £8.9 million in 2002 from £20.8 million the year before. Margins were affected… Continue reading Profits Down At Desmond’s Media Group

A senior executive at Carlton is understood to have been appointed to oversee the company’s £4.5 billion integration with Granada to create a single ITV company. The move will serve to reassure some Carlton employees that the deal remains a merger, rather than a take-over by Granada, which is the largest shareholder of the new… Continue reading Senior Carlton Executive To Oversee ITV Integration

Improving market conditions are encouraging advertisers to increase spending with the result that WPP, one of the world’s leading communications services groups, is “climbing further out of the bath”, the company said today. WPP announced record third quarter revenues in excess of $1 billion and intimated that the second half of the year is looking… Continue reading INSIGHTanalysis: Sorrell’s Bath Taking Shape